The Evening After
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: "Morning, Chizuru," said Ryouma, despite the setting sun. "Y'know, if you keep staring at me like you want to eat me, you're gonna give off the wrong impression. I'm only the chef, not the meal, sorry to say." / Requested by anonymous on Tumblr (shenanigumi): Chizuru admiring Sakamoto's Western wear, and Sakamoto enjoying the attention. I do not own Hakuōki!


"Yo, girl demon," called a distant but familiar voice, breaking into Chizuru's formless dreams. "Breakfast. Dinner. Whatever, just get the hell up." The voice lowered to a mutter she wasn't sure she was supposed to hear. "And I don't care what Sakamoto says. Just watching you sleep is boring."

Remembering her situation at the mention of Ryouma's name, Chizuru started, opening her eyes to find Shiranui already turning away from her. Sitting up beneath Ryouma's coat and stretching, she gazed out at Osaka Bay to find the setting sun glimmering on the water. She hadn't meant to sleep so late, but given everything that had happened yesterday and today, she supposed it was to be expected.

Since the Battle of Toba-Fushimi began yesterday, Chizuru hadn't slept and had barely rested, but the adrenaline kept her going long enough that she hadn't noticed how tired she was until she'd almost fallen over this morning. Ryouma, of course, had overreacted and _vehemently_ insisted on setting up camp then and there.

Shiranui had tried halfheartedly to talk him out of it at first, but upon recognizing that Ryouma's mind would not be changed, volunteered to keep watch. Chizuru couldn't afford to question the dark circles under Shiranui's eyes, so she'd just lain down in the morning sunshine, allowed Ryouma to drape his coat over her by way of blanket, and passed out.

Chizuru was lucky she'd been too exhausted to have any dreams last night, because she'd seen more than enough to give her nightmares. Kaoru. Her father. Inoue's death. Ryouma, crossing and double-crossing. Nakaoka. The imperial furies. Shiranui. Osaka Castle, and the realization that the Shinsengumi had already departed for Edo.

Even now, fully awake, her head spun as more and more memories crashed over her like the ocean waves. Nothing felt quite real, and being awakened by _Shiranui Kyo_ of all people didn't exactly help ground her in reality.

As she finally wrenched her gaze from the bay to glance around their makeshift camp, she found Ryouma already awake and regarding her with a smile as bright as his eyes. Blushing reflexively under his unabashed stare, she lowered her gaze from his face, and that was her fatal mistake.

Maybe it was just the quality of the light, but Ryouma looked… really… good. Better than Chizuru could have recognized yesterday, under so much stress and with so much else to distract her. No longer worn in its usual haphazard topknot, his hair curled loosely around his shoulders, giving him a wild sort of look that suited his impossible personality very well indeed.

…Which was at complete odds with Ryouma's sharp and neat attire. Chizuru had seen his outfit yesterday, of course. She'd even seen it in the daylight, earlier today. But only now, without his coat to cover everything else, did it strike her exactly how well it suited him. His clothes must have been tailored to fit him, but it looked almost more like _he_ was born to fit into _them_ instead.

Ryouma chuckled, drawing Chizuru out of her thoughts. "Morning, Chizuru," he said, despite the setting sun. "Y'know, if you keep staring at me like you want to eat me, you're gonna give off the wrong impression. I'm only the chef, not the meal, sorry to say."

The problem was more that she might be giving Ryouma the _right_ idea, but Chizuru couldn't very well tell him that. Especially not with Shiranui there. "I—I'm not very hungry yet, actually," said Chizuru, for lack of a better comeback, and scrambled to her feet. It always took a little while for her stomach to wake up after sleeping, so it wasn't exactly a lie, but…

"Mmm, could've fooled me," said Ryouma, grinning outright now, and stood up. "First you call me 'Ryouma-san', and now you're looking at me like _that_? Oh, the ways I could feed you if Shiranui wasn't here."

They were interrupted by a retching sound: Shiranui had stuck two of his fingers pointedly down his throat, perhaps miming his pistol. (Chizuru got the feeling she didn't understand all of his implications, but it was at least enough to convey his disgust.) "This is _war_ , Sakamoto," he growled, his words both the plain truth and an unrelated warning.

"Hey, Shiranui," said Ryouma casually, though he did not move his eyes from Chizuru. "Mind reminding me who decided to stick around and third-wheel us?"

"Mind reminding me who's been keeping watch for you all day so you could sleep in the shade?" retorted Shiranui. "And I bailed both your asses out yesterday. Least you can do in return is keep it in your pants for at least a few more hours, _damn_."

Shiranui's comment, unfortunately, drew Chizuru's attention to Ryouma's trousers. His top layers were long enough that she couldn't see all of them, but that was probably for the best, given how tightly they clung to his legs. The same legs strong enough to run fast as flying, even with his arms carrying her added weight. And those knee-high leather boots were fitted perfectly to his calves…

Chizuru started as Ryouma lifted his foot to examine it. "Something on my boots, Chizuru?" he asked, but as she looked up at his face, she found him grinning knowingly. There was no way that question wasn't rhetorical, but the only way she could save face was to try and answer it anyway.

"N-no," said Chizuru, blushing, and averted her eyes again to gaze determinedly at the bay. "I've just… never seen anything like them before."

"Oy, oy," complained Shiranui, and Chizuru looked over at him to find him looking almost hurt… but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes she didn't like. "What about me? You've seen me before, haven't you?" He raised his booted foot up to Chizuru's eye level and held it there effortlessly.

"Every time I've seen you, I've had other things to think about besides what you've been wearing!" exclaimed Chizuru, wringing her hands as Shiranui finally lowered his foot again, and her face was unbearably hot now. "Like Kazama kidnapping me!"

"Wait, wait, wait," began Ryouma, frowning. " _Kidnapping_?"

Shiranui completely ignored him. "Not when you poured me sake in Shimabara, you didn't," he told Chizuru, tossing Ryouma a suspiciously triumphant smirk and relishing his shock. "Oh wait, I guess that time you were probably still worried someone would find out you weren't a real geisha, even though you couldn't have been more obvious if you'd tried. My bad."

"I said _wait_ ," exclaimed Ryouma, staring between the two of them. "Forget the kidnapping. You poured sake for Shiranui in Shimabara?!" He pointed at Shiranui almost accusatorily, staring at Chizuru with eyes demanding answers.

She opened her mouth in an attempt to explain, but Shiranui cut her off. "Yeah, she did," said, smile widening. "And let me tell you, she's _real_ pretty all dressed up. Not enough to make me settle down, but close." Ryouma fumed silently, but Shiranui only shrugged. "Looks like Kazama wants her for all the wrong reasons. Big surprise there; he's never been much fun."

Ryouma scowled, crossing his arms, and Chizuru made the mistake of watching him move. The fabric of his shirt was thin and white, almost translucent in this light, and the sleeves were narrow enough to show off his muscular frame. "Who _is_ this Kazama guy, anyway?"

"Oh, just some pretentious asshole who's deluded himself into thinking the girl demon here is gonna be his wife," said Shiranui nonchalantly, and Chizuru stared at him. Apparently, he didn't much care for Kazama either. "Long story. The gist of it is that if you start treating her like he does, you're gonna have to answer to me."

Chizuru blinked at Shiranui a few times. Hadn't he tried to _help_ Kazama a few times, or had that been out of obligation? Was this his way of apologizing…? There was much about demons and their politics she didn't know, and given the different side of Shiranui she'd seen lately, that seemed at least plausible.

"I won't, I won't," said Ryouma, wide-eyed, and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "But what kind of things does he do?"

"Let's see here," said Shiranui, counting off on his fingers. "Showing off in front of her all the time. Treating her like she's already his girlfriend, even though she hasn't said anything about that. Holding her even after she asks to be let go. Acting like he knows what she's thinking and how she feels…"

Ryouma grimaced, but Chizuru surprised herself by interrupting. "Shiranui-san," she said, and both Shiranui and Ryouma turned slowly to look at her. With no choice but to continue, Chizuru cleared her throat awkwardly. "Ryouma-san is nothing like Kazama."

Shiranui tilted his head. "I'm nothing like Kazama, either, but I don't see you defending _me_ like that," he said. "So what's Sakamoto got that I don't?"

In response to his dismissive tone, Chizuru turned to face Ryouma, prepared to point out his virtues… but for some reason, perhaps due to how recently she had awakened, all she could think about in the moment was how he looked. That wouldn't be very helpful.

"W-well, uh," began Chizuru nervously, but fell silent as she realized she didn't know what she could say without stepping out of line. Her eyes darted between aspects of Ryouma's appearance to buy time, but unfortunately, her thoughts all scattered in the wake of her observations. Her gaze shifted from his beautiful boots to his tight leggings to his form-fitting sleeves to his loose hair and finally to his eyes, sparkling in the last of the sunlight.

Suddenly, Chizuru realized that she had never fully closed her mouth, and shut it abruptly, turning away again. "He's just… um, a nice person," she mumbled, heart pounding, once she found her voice. "That's all."

Shiranui rolled his eyes. "Got me there," he muttered, though he did not sound even remotely convinced. "Looks like you win this round, Sakamoto. I gotta say, the part of me that isn't sick of losing girls to _you_ is impressed."

"Not my fault the ladies like me better," said Ryouma, beaming. "But they'll have to settle for you now, because there's only one _I_ care about." His eyes alighted on Chizuru, and she almost backed away at the genuine emotion in their depths. He couldn't possibly mean something like that…!

"We should get going!" squeaked Chizuru, bending to pluck Ryouma's surprisingly heavy coat off the ground (and immediately regretting it, as his musky scent washed over her momentarily). "I can eat breakfast on the road!"

"What's this 'we' stuff?" asked Shiranui, raising his eyebrows. "If you like him so much, I'm giving him to you. He's your responsibility now." He grinned at Ryouma and Chizuru in turn, no hint of sullenness remaining in his expression. "You two keep each other out of trouble, got it? If I have to swoop in and save you guys again, I'm gonna be _pissed_."

"Yeah, yeah," said Ryouma, waving a hand as if to brush Shiranui off. "You have fun doing… whatever it is you're about to do."

"Throwing a wrench in the imperial army's plans is a good start, I think," said Shiranui. "They'll never know what hit them." Though he turned away with a wave as if to walk away, he instead vanished on the spot. Chizuru could only watch the space he had occupied for a few seconds. She'd never be able to get used to that, let alone do it herself.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Ryouma distracted her again before long. "So the reason you've been undressing me with your eyes is just 'cause I'm a _nice person_ , huh," he said, his smile taking on an almost wicked tilt—and suddenly, Chizuru wasn't so sure about that anymore.


End file.
